Newcastle United have a massive transfer advantage over Manchester United

The fortunes of Newcastle United and Manchester United have been closely linked in recent times.

The final week of the 2023/24 season saw Erik ten Hag record his first Premier League win against Eddie Howe, but this win is not enough to see Man U move ahead of United in the final league table.

Newcastle United end the season in seventh place, Manchester United one place below. While the previous season in 2022/23, Man U were third and Newcastle United, one position behind, in eighth.

Some highlights in this latest season with the final standings.

Manchester United recorded their worst result in the Premier League era, while it was the first time Newcastle United finished a season above Man U since 1976/77.

From the outside looking in, a very interesting dilemma at Old Trafford.

After such a disastrous season, Ratcliffe and the Glazers were set to sack Erik ten Hag, however, after securing an FA Cup triumph, Man U bosses looked set to give him another season.

So who would your money be on when it comes to who will finish higher in the 2024/25 season, Newcastle United or Manchester United?

Well, I know where my money would go.

If you scratch beneath the surface, Eddie Howe and Newcastle United have made huge strides in both the short and long term.

This leads to a massive transfer advantage over Manchester United.

Let me explain.

Newcastle United signings in the last three seasons

Trippier, Wood, Willock, Burn, Targett, Pope, Botman, Gordon, Isak, Minteh, Livramento, Barnes, Tonali, Hall

Manchester United signings in the last three seasons

Varane, Ronaldo, Sancho, Sabitzer, Eriksen, Weghorst, Martinez, Casemiro, Antony, Evans, Amrabat, Onana, Mount, Hojlund

Newcastle United signings for the past three seasons, dug a little deeper

Eddie Howe took over a nightmare mid-season situation with Newcastle looking set for relegation so it took experienced Premier League players to hit the ground running with the likes of Wood, Trippier and Burn coming in and doing an excellent job.

However, the overall story of these last three years of Newcastle United transfer dealings has overwhelmingly been a case of very brave decision-making, investing the vast majority of money on players whose best years are ahead of them.

So domestics made in the last three years who are still at the club, these are the ages at which the 2024/25 Premier League season starts:

Bruno 26, Willock 24, Isak 24, Gordon 23, Botman 23, Minteh 20, Livramento 21, Barnes 26, Tonali 24, Sala 19, Burn 32, Trippier 33, Targett 28, Pope 32.

Take the top ten from that list and the average age is just 23 years old.

Manchester United signings in the last three seasons, dig a little deeper

With Man U, a very different story. The Old Trafford club are going the route of paying massive sums of money in transfer fees and wages for experienced name signings, an overwhelming short-term strategy in trying and failing to compete with those at the top of the Premier League.

They have regularly gone for loan signings of late, such as Weghorst, Sabitzer and Amrabat. Money is not invested in any way in the future.

Ronaldo was obviously out and about, while summing up the massive amounts of money Manchester United have paid for their aging stars, they paid £40m for Varane and paid his wages in excess of £300,000 pounds a week then after three years they have now lost it. as a free agent without a penny recovered.

So these are the players remaining at Manchester United who have been signed in the last three years, with their ages when the 2024/25 Premier League season starts:

Sancho 24, Eriksen 32, Martinez 26, Casemiro 32, Antony 24, Evans 34, Onana 28, Mount 25, Hojlund 21

Eriksen, Casemiro and Evans look pretty battered now, short-term gambles whose best days are long gone.

You look at what leaves next, half a dozen signings that cost well over £400m for the six – Sancho, Martinez, Antony, Onana, Mount, Hojlund.

Honestly, I think Manchester United’s transfer strategy over the last three years has been an absolute disaster. Rather create a very strong base going forward, this half dozen…Sancho totally exiled and very hard to find a club to take on his massive wages AND pay any sort of meaningful transfer fee, Antony … what can you say, Mount looked terrible last season, Onana unreliable in goal, Martinez looks a decent player and Hojlund showed a bit but doesn’t justify a £70m+ price tag!

I am not claiming that Newcastle United are the definitive article as far as their squad is concerned, BUT what I do know for sure is that inspirational activity in the transfer market under Eddie Howe has given NUFC a superb platform of younger players for years to come. A case this summer of adding a few players who can further improve this.

Whereas with Manchester United, they had so many disastrous signings and on top of that, many of them short-term bets that didn’t pay off. So this summer, Man U must replace those who have left and those whose best years are now well behind them.